In response to President Obama’s proposal to reduce carbon emissions from power plants, World Wildlife Fund (WWF) issued the following statement from Lou Leonard, vice president for climate change:

“President Obama is sending the strongest signal yet to the rest of the world that the United States is getting serious about combating climate change. And not a moment too soon: the recent US climate assessment shows that human-caused global warming is biting the country today, not in some distant future. So it makes common sense that today, the Obama Administration should use all of the tools available to protect our communities from this clear and present threat.

“Dirty electricity is the largest source of industrial carbon pollution in America, while also threatening our children’s health and the natural world. Today’s proposed standards employ one of the most popular and successful US laws, the Clean Air Act, to tackle pollution from the dirtiest US power plants. Ambitious final standards will reap major rewards for people, nature, and the next generation of Americans that follow in our footsteps.

“These standards should be strengthened and finalized to ensure that the US can successfully meet existing and future targets for transitioning our nation to a renewable energy future. Strong US targets backed by clear action, like today’s proposed standards, will help secure actions from other nations, which together can produce the needed global effort prior to the UN climate meeting in Paris next year.”